By Evan Koblentz
Monday, October 13, 2008
Verizon Wireless said today that contrary to reports last week, it has not decided to increase per-message text fees for content aggregators from 1 cent per message to 3 cents.
The prospect of an increase is just one proposal and Verizon could not act unilaterally to implement it, a company spokesman explained this morning.
Initial reports last week cited a letter from Verizon to aggregators in which the wireless operator said the increase is effective Nov. 1.
That was a misstatement, the nation’s second-largest wireless operator said today. Verizon would be the largest carrier if its proposed $5.9 billion acquisition of Alltel is approved by the government.
The company declined to say if other proposals are being considered, if there’s a timeframe for reaching a decision about any change, or how the miscommunication happened.
Concern throughout the industry is that if fees are increased, then many small companies would be adversely affected and that charges could be passed on to consumers.